An experimental and analytical investigation of a multi-fuel stepped piston engine

This paper presents results of computational modelling of a stepped piston engine using one dimensional CFD code. The analysis builds upon the experimental work performed on a four-cylinder stepped piston engine for Unmanned Air-Vehicle (UAV) application. A range of variables in terms of fuels, fuelling methods and core engine parameters have been modelled and compared with actual test data. The maximum power recorded from experimental testing was 30.47 kW at 5250 RPM using kerosene JET A-1. The correlation between theoretical and experimental data is in general agreement within the bounds of the uncertainties of experimental errors and the assumptions within the numerical models. Simulation has allowed an assessment of potential for direct injection fuelling predicting minimum specific fuel consumption (SFC) of 0.273 g/kWh using indolene and 0.310 kg/kWh using simulated JET A-1.